Fantasy Football - Snake Draft vs Auction Draft - Which is Better?

Up until this year I have only been participating in snake drafts. Snake drafts are the typical type of draft that you are probably used to if you have played fantasy football before. Snake drafts are when you get a certain position that is supposed to be randomly assigned and then you get your 1st pick and all subsequent picks after that based on the initial draft position that you are assigned. For example if you are in a 12 team league and you drew spot # 2, you would pick 2nd in the 1st round and 11th in the 2nd round, 2nd in the 3rd round and 11th in the 4th round and so on and so forth.

This kind of draft is fine and well, but it does leave a few things to be desired. For example if you really want to get Adrian Peterson or Michael Turner, the two elite running backs, forget about it unless you are lucky enough to get position 1 or 2. So one could say that the order of the draft positions that people are assigned can impact the ability for each person to have an equivalent team at least when it comes to getting the most elite players(s).

This is where an auction draft can level the playing field. The reason being is that draft positions are not important as everyone in the league is given a flat equal sum of money from which to bid against the other league members and thus assemble your team.

So if AP or Michael Turner is really important to you, you have an equal shot of getting them along with all others, but you must pay up. So depending on how much you are willing to bid for a player, that is what will decide if you get him. Each player goes up for “Auction” one at a time and the highest bidder takes that player.

This is a very fun way to draft and involves a much different strategy than a snake draft does. Be careful, because if you run out of money too soon, you won’t be able to bid any more. Be too frugal and you will miss out on all of the best talent. It really does become a balancing act.